Who Is At The Helm?

July 10, 1985|By blue

There is a dime's worth of difference between President Reagan and Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina. One man is president of the United States and leader of the Free World: The other merely thinks he is. That's the only explanation for Mr. Helms' compulsion to dictate the staffing of foreign policy posts great and small.

Just before Congress went on vacation, Mr. Helms and a few others refused to allow the routine Senate approval of 29 people nominated for diplomatic posts. Mr. Helms wasn't satisfied with Secretary of State George Shultz's progress in finding new assignments for one State Department official and for five ambassadors who are being removed from their duties despite the senator's praise of their work.

His pitch to the White House was, in effect: Let's okay half of your nominees now, then concentrate on my wants, and ask about the others later. The administration took none of the above rather than take dictation from the not-so-gentle man from North Carolina.

Mr. Helms' ruse in these periodic tantrums is standard. He poses as the best friend of a beleaguered president who he implies has been focusing on the big picture and letting subordinates proceed with non-Reaganite nominations. Given the power of obstructionists under the Senate's rules, Mr. Helms has had some success with his own undiplomatic suggestions. Indeed, he now has assurances that one of the threatened diplomats will stay put and another will get a new overseas assignment.

This has gone on too long. If Mr. Helms or others continue to stall Senate action in the name of Reaganism and rightness, the president publicly should put his annoying allies in their place.